Early Adventures, Sadlers Wells, 21st May
Rightio, this is 3 of Bourne's early pieces, pre-Swan Lake *and* Nutcracker - Spitfire, Town and Country and The Infernal Galop. to quote the terrible pun in one review I saw, The Bourne Origin.
There was admittedly massive pouting that happened when they announced the cast, aka NO RICHARD WINSOR. Yeah. I have favourites. This is no secret. There was a reason, because he's in the filmed performances of these. This is Spitfire.
Actual commentary time. sort of mix of humour, pisstake for the initiated, film reference and incredibly sad/poignant/beautiful stuff. It's impressive how much this stuff stands up for a choreographer who was starting out, and how much of it is very obviously Matthew Bourne.The language is very familiar. Cast: Kerry Biggin, Christopher Marney, Tom Jackson Greaves (new-ish boy), James Leece, Kate Lyons, Drew McOnie (also choreographed Soho Cinders), Dominic North, Mikah Smillie and Joe Walkling (who we don't think we've seen before though he's a regular cast member)
Spitfire: I have since been told this is a pisstake on Pas de Quatre, which was a showcase for male ballerinas. Fuck it. Picture: Male underwear models, posing. Trying to be incredibly masculine and taking it very seriously. With full Blue Steel face. GLORIOUS. And bloody hysterical. We were front row, could not stop giggling or outright snorting. And at one point breaking into spontaneous applause at one incredible move from Christopher Marney. (last seen as the Angel in Cinderella at Wimbledon) So much posing. So much preening. So much slightly transparent white undies. Ahem.
Town and Country: Two separate pieces. Town, it's very post-war genteel, Noel Coward et al. Maids and valets getting their masters clean and dressed, (rather forcibly) while two blokes (Tom and Christopher) very carefully and nervously eye each other up (it's very sweet). In this one there's a nice touch that the music is on the radio that one character turns on, and turns off when they leave. One hysterical Brief Encounter on fast forward, and a constantly interrupted picnic that the two blokes from the bath scene go on later (they're also the incredibly bitchy waiters in Brief Encounter). And then the scooters. Don't ask. VROOM. With an added tally-ho.
Country - very cliché English pastoral - milkmaids and blokes in smocks and so on to much more classical music. There is shagging, milking, (I admit to getting a wee bit bored during this as there was bugger all story) and then the clog-dancing. Oh christ, the clog-dancing. A couple of yokels get bullied into doing it, it's very clumsy and bad, and... there are animal hand puppets that appear from behind the scenery to take the piss. Anyone remember me talking about the Badger onna Stick in Highland Fling? These are their forebears, and completely steal the show, audience in fits. And then: the clog dancers flail about and one of them hits the hedgehog. Who promptly collapses and dies. And the bunny notices the hedgehog isn't moving, and tries to give it CPR and... :sniffle: never, ever, has a hedgehog handpuppet's demise been so affecting. YOU BASTARDS. :swallow: I'm okay. I'll be okay in a minute. :deep breath: Next piece is hunting and very much tally-ho (the fox handpuppet being a tad alarmed at this). Then comes The Hedgehog's Funeral (yes, this is the title in the program) which begins with the funeral procession for the hedgehog handpuppet, and leads into a moonlight piece on sorrow and mourning, solo by Christopher Marney. Really well done. (later, I found that the hedgehog was played by Christopher Marney)
Infernal Galop: A bunch of post-war set Paris pieces, amazing set design by Lez Brotherston. Overall it's a bit like Country - doesn't hang together quite as well as Town, but it's enthusiastic and generally pleasing. Dancing to Edith Piaf et al, couples dances stitching them together finished with a terribly precise and measured can-can. Standouts: Blokes at a pissoir eyeing each other up, two of them start shagging... and constantly get interrupted by a bunch of mad semi-flamenco-semi-mexican performers. Very, very funny. The Mermaid - which has to be a pisstake of *something*, it's too familiar not to be. The mermaid is a bloke in a terribly natty green-blue silk dressing gown (Christopher Marney again) who enchants a bunch of French sailors (full stripy shirt and high waisted bell bottoms outfit) in the manner of a siren. Quite fabulous.
Overall, a great evening, and it's going on tour again at the end of the week.
There was admittedly massive pouting that happened when they announced the cast, aka NO RICHARD WINSOR. Yeah. I have favourites. This is no secret. There was a reason, because he's in the filmed performances of these. This is Spitfire.
Actual commentary time. sort of mix of humour, pisstake for the initiated, film reference and incredibly sad/poignant/beautiful stuff. It's impressive how much this stuff stands up for a choreographer who was starting out, and how much of it is very obviously Matthew Bourne.The language is very familiar. Cast: Kerry Biggin, Christopher Marney, Tom Jackson Greaves (new-ish boy), James Leece, Kate Lyons, Drew McOnie (also choreographed Soho Cinders), Dominic North, Mikah Smillie and Joe Walkling (who we don't think we've seen before though he's a regular cast member)
Spitfire: I have since been told this is a pisstake on Pas de Quatre, which was a showcase for male ballerinas. Fuck it. Picture: Male underwear models, posing. Trying to be incredibly masculine and taking it very seriously. With full Blue Steel face. GLORIOUS. And bloody hysterical. We were front row, could not stop giggling or outright snorting. And at one point breaking into spontaneous applause at one incredible move from Christopher Marney. (last seen as the Angel in Cinderella at Wimbledon) So much posing. So much preening. So much slightly transparent white undies. Ahem.
Town and Country: Two separate pieces. Town, it's very post-war genteel, Noel Coward et al. Maids and valets getting their masters clean and dressed, (rather forcibly) while two blokes (Tom and Christopher) very carefully and nervously eye each other up (it's very sweet). In this one there's a nice touch that the music is on the radio that one character turns on, and turns off when they leave. One hysterical Brief Encounter on fast forward, and a constantly interrupted picnic that the two blokes from the bath scene go on later (they're also the incredibly bitchy waiters in Brief Encounter). And then the scooters. Don't ask. VROOM. With an added tally-ho.
Country - very cliché English pastoral - milkmaids and blokes in smocks and so on to much more classical music. There is shagging, milking, (I admit to getting a wee bit bored during this as there was bugger all story) and then the clog-dancing. Oh christ, the clog-dancing. A couple of yokels get bullied into doing it, it's very clumsy and bad, and... there are animal hand puppets that appear from behind the scenery to take the piss. Anyone remember me talking about the Badger onna Stick in Highland Fling? These are their forebears, and completely steal the show, audience in fits. And then: the clog dancers flail about and one of them hits the hedgehog. Who promptly collapses and dies. And the bunny notices the hedgehog isn't moving, and tries to give it CPR and... :sniffle: never, ever, has a hedgehog handpuppet's demise been so affecting. YOU BASTARDS. :swallow: I'm okay. I'll be okay in a minute. :deep breath: Next piece is hunting and very much tally-ho (the fox handpuppet being a tad alarmed at this). Then comes The Hedgehog's Funeral (yes, this is the title in the program) which begins with the funeral procession for the hedgehog handpuppet, and leads into a moonlight piece on sorrow and mourning, solo by Christopher Marney. Really well done. (later, I found that the hedgehog was played by Christopher Marney)
Infernal Galop: A bunch of post-war set Paris pieces, amazing set design by Lez Brotherston. Overall it's a bit like Country - doesn't hang together quite as well as Town, but it's enthusiastic and generally pleasing. Dancing to Edith Piaf et al, couples dances stitching them together finished with a terribly precise and measured can-can. Standouts: Blokes at a pissoir eyeing each other up, two of them start shagging... and constantly get interrupted by a bunch of mad semi-flamenco-semi-mexican performers. Very, very funny. The Mermaid - which has to be a pisstake of *something*, it's too familiar not to be. The mermaid is a bloke in a terribly natty green-blue silk dressing gown (Christopher Marney again) who enchants a bunch of French sailors (full stripy shirt and high waisted bell bottoms outfit) in the manner of a siren. Quite fabulous.
Overall, a great evening, and it's going on tour again at the end of the week.